Evan Dando & Julianna Hatfield – Lee’s Palace – NXNE 2011
Nineties grunge kids and slackers mingled with hipsters at Lee’s Palace in Toronto for Evan Dando and Julianna Hatfield’s first gig together for eight years. The last visit saw Julianna backing up Evan’s set but this show was an equal-billing acoustic set.
Alternating between each other’s tunes, the show was remeniscent of ‘folk singers around a campfire’ than ‘rock icons at an classic club’. As with most North by Northeast Festival shows, there was a lot of competition during each show but this was a critics and, from the busy room, it was a fan fave as well.
The audience hung on every lyric and comment by the two artists, only breaking for rapturous applause during hits like “Into Your Arms” and “It’s About Time”. Julianna also took the time to introduce some new tracks from her forthcoming fan-funded album.
The crowd was definitely not ready for the set to end but Julianna noted that they had to keep to the Festival schedule so had to leave us wanting more after a fast but satisfying 40 minutes. Hopefully, they don’t leave it another 8 years to work together!